Hundreds share evacuation stories

Joni Adams, who is legally blind, couldn’t get a ride out of town amid the chaotic mass exodus following last month’s evacuation order after the emergency spillway failure at the Oroville Dam.

Adams was among more than 300 people at a town hall meeting Tuesday night in Yuba City as officials gathered information about how to better execute future evacuations.

“I want to thank my fellow citizens for being so courteous – there was only one person that I saw who was cutting people off trying to get out of town,” Matt Mentink said. “I took my 82-year-old mother from Yuba City to Sutter and it took four hours.”

Philip Binstock addressed the crowd and thanked law enforcement for getting everyone out of town safely, including transferring jail inmates.

Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Tehama, along with county, city and community leaders, were among those who shared stories about the recent evacuation, as well as the floods of 1997 and 1986.

“If you’re an elected official, you want to be here to hear theses stories from people about the evacuation,” said Chuck Smith, Sutter County’s public information officer. “We have a lot of follow-up to do on how we can improve future evacuations.”

Smith said a video of the meeting will be posted to the county’s YouTube page today. The meeting also was streamed live on Facebook.

He encouraged residents in both counties and the surrounding towns to take a survey about their experience during the evacuation, which is on the county website, and he said that will help them improve the evacuation process.

Smith said the survey info will be shared with state, county and city offices as they update the evacuation process.

Yuba County public information officer Russ

Brown said the town hall meeting is a good way to get public feedback, especially after the immediate danger has settled.

“It’s good for us to be here and hear the public without having to be prompted,” Brown said. “We had our heads together in terms of the county staff talking about what

happened on Feb. 12, and now we can hear the public’s voice about what we did right and what needs to improve.”

Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, addresses the crowd during a feedback session on the Oroville Dam spillway incident and the evacuation last month on Tuesday at the Veterans Hall in Yuba City.

Joni Adams, who is legally blind, addresses the crowd during a feedback session on the Oroville Dam spillway incident and the evacuation last month on Tuesday at Veterans Hall in Yuba City.